Judging by how last session went and the fact that it has been a while since I played with Kai I guessed that he would be dominant and testy today. It turns out that I was right.

I began our session by grooming Kai and braiding his mane because there was no space for us to play in the arena. When we finally had room in the arena I asked Kai to go on a circle at the walk and he jumped forward striking the air with his front legs and he gave a little crow hop. I backed him up hard and asked him again. Kai trotted instead of walking so I pushed him to canter in a very tight circle with lots of changes of direction. When he decided to connect I played some yoyo game and took him for a ride while he cooled out.

I was prepared for him to be bracy when I asked him for lateral flexion but he surprised me and was super soft. I tied my savvy string around his neck as a cordeo so that I could begin teaching him to be responsive to it. I asked him to yield his HQ and he walked forward so I corrected him and asked again. I persisted until he yielded on both sides lightly. Then we practiced his FQ yields and he got that almost right away. I asked him to back up and to yield his FQ with the neck rope and he did pretty well.

The goal of this ride was to be able to direct him with my legs only without him speeding up. I had my rein ready but completely neutral and we set off on the rail. I had to correct Kai in the beginning but soon I was able to steer him in a tight serpentine with my legs only and my reins hanging down. I slid of his bum when dismounting for fun. I asked him to bow before giving him his apple and putting him back in the paddock. It was a very good and productive session.